Filling feeler mechanism



July 20, 1948. I m E 2,445,695

FILLING FEELER MECHANISM Filed Nov. 8, 1946 INVENTOR. o JOHN RINNE R0 BERT G. MALLARD ATTORNEY Patented July 20, 1948 FILLING FEELER MECHANISM John .Rlnne, Brooklyn, and Robert a. Mallard, Staten Island, N. Y., asslgnors to The M. W. Kellogg Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware "Application November 8, 1946, Serial No. 708,638

The present invention relates to a loom feeler mechanism of the type which is responsive to a nearly exhausted condition of a bobbin for actuating the replenishing mechanism of an automatic loom.

The conventional type of. mechanical loom feeler mechanism comprises a comparatively long spring-pressed feeler arm mounted for pivotal movement and rigidly carrying a feeler tip which comes into engagement with the bobbin'during the beat-up movement of the lay, and which is tiltably movable sidewise through a wide are, as a result of the long leverage afforded by said arm. 80 long as the feeler tip engages yarn on the bobbin, it is restrained against sidewise movement along said bobbin by the friction between said tip and the comparatively soft mass of yarn. In order to assure against a false or premature indicating movement of the feeler tip, said tip is provided with a serrated or roughened yarn engaging orfeeler surface. -When the bobbin is nearly exhaustion, and the feeler tip finds a bare portion of the bobbin during beat-up movement, said tip slips along said bobbin portion, thereby tilting the feeler arm into actuating engagement with the transmission or connecting rod of a mechanism by which the exhausted bobbin is automatically replenished by a fresh bobbin.

With the conventional feeler mechanism described, any wide slippage of the tip along the yarn or any excessive pressure of said tip against said yarn will cause the sharp or roughened yarn engaging surface of said tip to cut into, catch or abrade the filaments or strands of said yarn, especially if it is of a delicate nature, such as rayon.

Furthermore, in a conventional feeler mechanism of the general type described, substantially the same part of the roughened tip is presented to the bobbin, bothwhen the bobbin has an ample tive or certain in operation.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved loom feeler mechanism which 8 Claims. (Cl. 139-288) is certain, positive, sensitive and quick in operation, and which has a minimum of abrasive or other injurious effect on the yarn of'the bobbin being detected.

Various other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following particular description, and froman inspection of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal section of a feeler mechanism embodying the present invention and shown in connection with a yarn filled bobbin, at the instant when said bobbin is first contacting the feeler tip during the beat-up movement of the lay;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the feeler mechanism in the phase of operation shown in Fig. 1,

parts of the side wall of the case of said mechanism being shown broken away to expose the interior of said case;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the feeler mechanism shown in connection with a yarn filled bobbin near the end of the beat-up movement of the lay, the'cover of the feeler case being shown broken away to expose the interior of said case; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the feeler mechanism, but shown in connection with a bobbin which has neared exhaustion, and which is at the limit of the beat-up movement of the lay, th cover of the feeler case. being shown broken away to expose the interior thereof; and

Fig. 5 shows the plan view of a modified form of feeler tip which may be used in connection with the feeler mechanism of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a bobbin III which is mounted in a shuttle (not shown) of usual construction, and which car ries the filling yam A. The shuttle is picked back and forth along the lay (not shown) to form picks of the filling yarn in the shed. When the filling supply on the bobbin Hi is substantially exhausted, the bobbin is automatically ejected from the shuttle, and replaced by a fresh bobbin from a magazine through the operation of a replenishing mechanism. The shuttle is provided with the usual slot in its forward we]! registering with an opening in the front wall of the shuttle box on the feeler loomside to permit the insertion of the feeler tip into contact with the bobbin as said bobbin is moved forwardly during beat-up movementof thelay,

The feeler mechanism of the present invention comprises a horizontal feeler case or housing ll secured'to a fixed part of the loom On one side thereof, as for example, by means of a bracket 7 I'Aand spaced in front of the shuttle picking 3 course. The case II is shown comprising a substantially rectangular box I! having a top cover I4 removably secured thereto, as for example, by means of studs I6 threaded into nuts Ii welded to or otherwise secured to the inner face of the bottom wall of said box.

Axially slidable with aclose slide fit in the end walls of the case II is a feeler arm or rod I I having its rear section projecting out of said case and pivotally carrying at its rear projecting end a feeler tip 20 througha pivot mounting II. The tip 20 is of in case-like construction, and comprises a pa of opposed flat side walls 22 defining a recess 23 therebetween, and an outer end wall 24 between said side walls bevelled along its sides I9 towards its outer end, and presenting an outer convexly curved or arcuate feeler surface 28. The feeler rod I'I extends into the tip recess 23, and is formed at its rear end with an eye 26 through which a rivet pivot stud 2'! extends to form the pivot mounting 2|.

One end section 30 of the i'eeler surface 25 defines the yarn engaging portion of said surface, while the other section SI of said surface defines the portion which slides into contact with the bare portion of the bobbin II) when said bobbin is nearly exhausted and in condition for initiating the replenishing operation, as will be more fully described.

The rod I1 is urged axially outwardly and rearwardly towards the bobbin ID with respect to the case II by a coil spring 35 encircling the case enclosed portion of said rod, and abutting at one end against a spring adjusting slide plate 36 in said case. The other end of the spring 35 the other end in a bracket 80 fixed to one of the side walls of said case. The screw it has a knurled head 51 outside the case I I readily accessible for manipulation, and has a threaded bears against a collar 31 fixed to the rod IT in the case I I.

Pivotally secured to the tip 20 by a pivotal mounting 38 is an indicator rod 40 passing through an elongated guide slot 4| in the rear wall of the case II, and passing loosely through a pivot guide hole 42 in the front wall of said case. The indicator rod 40 also passes with clearance through a hole 43 in the spring adjusting slide plate 36, and is normally maintained parallel to the feeler rod I1.

To locate the pivot mounting 38 close to the axis of the rod I1 in inoperative position of the tip 20 shown in Fig. l, the indicator rod 40 is angularly ofi'set at its outer end 44 towards said axis. The offset rod end 44, extends into the tip recess 23, is flattened, and is apertured to receive a rivet pivot stud 45 forming part of the pivotal mounting 38.

For normally maintaining the feeler tip 20 in the inoperative position shown in Fig. l, the indicator rod 40 has in the case II an encircling coil spring 50, which is weaker than the spring 35. The spring bears at one end against a collar 5| fixed to the rod 40, and at its other end against an oil'set shoulder 52 formed at one end of a Z-shaped connector 53, and which is apertured to permit said ro to pass therethrough with a aperture connections between the shoulder ends 2 and 54 of the connector 53 and the rods I1 and 40 respectively, afford enough play to permit relative slide movements between said shoulder ends and saidrods, and to permit the rod 40 to be tilted from the inoperative position shown in engagement with the adjusting plate 38, so that upon rotation of said screw, said plate slides in the case II, and accordingly varies the extent oi compression of the coil spring 38.

A connecting or transmission rod 80 has a slide bearing in a bracket 6| forming a rearward extension of one of the side walls of the case II, and has one end 62 exposed and in" "the path of tilting movement of the indicator rod 40. Al the other end, the connecting rod is springpressed towards the feeler mechanism, and it connected to a mechanism which initiates the replenishing operation. This mechanism may be oi any suitable conventional type well-known in the art, or may be of the improved form shown in copending application, Serial No. 706,826, filed Oct. 31,1946, now Patent No. 2,443,401, June 15, 1948.

To limit angular movement of the feeler tip 20 and in turn the rod 40 from the inoperativt position shown in Fig. l to the indicating positior shown in Fig. 4, there is provided a stop pin 6| connected 'to the side walls 22 of the feeler tip and adapted to engage the outer edge of the oiTset section 44 of the indicator rod 40 in extreme tilted position of said rod shown in Fi 4 In the operation of the feeler mechanism, thl rod I1 is normally urged rearwardly towards thi picking course of the bobbin III by the spring 35, and this spring pressure in turn is transmitted to the indicator rod 40 endwise thereol through the connector 53 and the coil spring Ill so that the two pivotal connections 2I and 38 wil be relatively located with the connection 38 rearwardly of the connection 2| and close to thI axis or line of action of the feeler rod II. In thl inoperative position of the feeler mechanism, thi yarn engaging section III of the feeler surface 2| extends in the most rearward position of tin feeler mechanism closest to the bobbin II).

The inoperative position 01' the feeler mechanism shown in Fig. 1 is limited either by 15111 stressed condition of the springs 35 and 50, b: the engagement of the collars 31 and BI agains' the rear wall of the case I I, or by the engagemen' of the inner edge of the offset end section 44 o the indicator rod 40 with the edge of the pivo eye 28 of the feeler rod I'I.

As a bobbin Iii having an ample supply of yari A moves forwardly through the beating-u move ment of the lay, the end section 30 of the feele: surface 25 being nearest to said bobbin will com in contact with said yarn. This causes the feele: surface section 30 to be indented into the rela tively soft mass of yarn, so that substantial fric tional contact is established between said feele surface section and said yarn. Under these con ditions, the force of the spring-pressed rod I1 i1 conjunction with the pushing force of the for wardly. advancing bobbin produces a momen tending to rotate the feeler tip 20 clockwise abou the pivot mounting 2|. The length of lever arm of this moment is the distance between the axi Fig; 1 in which it is parallel to the Ieeler I 11 0; line of action of the feeler rod I1 and the con tact section of the tip as with the bobbin n. This moment in the clockwise direction on the other hand is resisted by the friction force resulting from the contact of the feeler tip 20 with the yarn of the bobbin l0, this frictional resistanc force having a lever arm extending between the pivot mounting 2i and the outer peripheral section of the yarn A.

The feeler surface 2! has a comparatively wide radius, so that as it is pressed into the relatively soft yarn A, the contact areas defined between said surface and said yarn are large, and the resuiting friction force is sufilciently large to effectively resist" clockwise rotation of the tip 20.

As the yarn laden bobbin l moves from initial contact with said bobbin.

contacting position (Fig, 1) towards its extreme of the lay, the bare barrel will engage the tip 20.

The bare barrel 61 being relatively hard and smooth, the friction force resisting rotation of the tip 2| clockwise about the pivot mounting If is reduced sufllciently to permit said tip to rotate in this direction. As the tip is so rotated, its feeler surface rides in slide contact over the and operated, that upon feeler contact with a bare section of the bobbin II, the yarn engaging section II of the feeler tip surface 2| immediately.

rides past engagement with said bare bobbin section, while the other bobbin engaging surface section ll of the tip progressively moves into slide This is advantageous, especially in case it is found necessary to roughen or serrate the yarn engaging section SI of the tip surface 2!. This is not necessary, and the surface 2| is desirably made of uniform. somewhat smooth character, as shown in Figs, 1-4. If it is found necessary-or desirable to increase the friction hold of the yamon the tip.'only the restricted yarn engaging section Ila of the tip surface Ila need be roughened or provided with teeth, while the remainder Ila of the tip surface remains smooth, as shown in Fig. 5. During actuating slide movement of the tip ila, therefore, mini mum of frictional resistance is offered to said movement.

Since the end 62 of the connecting rod I is ex-' posed to fullview; and not confined in the mile! case as in the conventional feeler mechanism, the adjustment of the position of said rod end with v respect to the actuator rod 40 can be easily made,

denuded section of the bobbinbarrel 61 from the yarn engaging section III of said feeler surfac II As the to the bare bobbin engaging section II. feeler tip 20 is rotated clockwise, the pivot mounting 38 for the indicator rod 40 moves transversely away from the axis of the rod ll, causing thereby the indicator rod ill to tilt clockwise in the position shown in Fig. 4. Also, as this tip '20 is so rotated clockwise, the pivotal mounting 2| moves closer to the surface of the bobbin barrel l1, so that the lever arm of the friction force at the contacting areas of the feeler tip 20 and the bobbin barrel 61 will be progressively reduced, thereby progressively reducing resistance to the clockwise rotation of the tip about the pivot mounting 2|. As a result of this progressively decreasing resistance to the clockwise turning of the feeler tip III, the tip is snapped almost instantly'and forcefully into position to actuate the connectin rod 60, once the rotation of said tip has been initiated by its engagement with the bare portion of the bobbin III. This forceful snap action of the feeler tip II is desirable, especially since the connecting rod 80 is under comparatively strong" at one end which is sumcient to provide fillin thread for the weaving operation which occurs subsequent to the slipping of the feeler tip 20, but prior to the replacement of the spent bobbin with a fresh one.

It should be noted that the contact between the tip feeler surface 25 and the bobbin III is substantially confined to the same restricted area of said bobbin. both in yarn engaging condition of the feeler tip Ill and in bare bobbin engaging condition shown in Fig. 4, so that the bobbin engaging section of the feeler tip does not slide to any substantial extent along the length of the bobbin. Therefore, there is no slide action of the filler tip 20 that might cut, abrade or otherwise injure a wrap or two of the yarn on the bobbin.

Furthermore, the feeler tip 20 is so designed As manychanges can be made in the above mechanism. and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention can b made without departing'from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A loom feeler mechanism, comprising a thin case-like feeler tip having opposite side walls defining a recess therebetween, and having an outer end wall presenting a convexly curved feeler surface. -a feeler arm for supporting said ti extending at one end into said tip recess. and having a pivot mounting at said end for said tip, and means responsive to the rotation of said tip about said pivot mounting for initiating a replenishing operation.

2. A loom feeler mechanism comprising a thin case-like feeler tip having opposite side walls defining a recess therebetween and having an outer end wall presenting a convexly curved feeler surface, a feeler arm for supporting said tip extending at one endinto said tip recess and having a pivot mounting at said end for said tip, an indicator arm having one end extending into said tip re.- cess and pivotally connected thereto at a section of said tip spaced from said pivot mounting, means guiding said indicator arm for angular movement upon rotation of said tip about said pivot mountsaid feeler tip with a section adjacent the other end thereof of said surface disposedfor initial contact'with the bobbin, said cam surface being so shaped that the locus of contact between said surface and said bobbin remains substantially constantly positioned along said bobbin as said feeler tip goes through said indicating pivotal movement.

4. A feeler mechanism for a loom bobbin comprising, a support member, a feeler arm mounted on said support member for reciprocatory movement, means for urging said feeler arm toward the path of the bobbin, a feeler tip mounted adjacent one end thereof on said arm for pivotal bobbin exhaustion indicating movement and having an outer arcuate cam surface adapted to contact the bobbin, and means normally positioning said feeler tip with a section adjacent the other end thereof of said surface disposed for initial contact with the bobbin, said initial contact section being roughened for yarn engagement, the remainder of said surface being smooth for engaging the bare portion of the bobbin, said surface being so shaped that the locus of contact between said surface and said bobbin remains substantially constantly positioned along said bobbin as said feeler tip moves through said indicating pivotal movement.

5. A feeler mechanism for a loom bobbin comprising, a feeler arm, means mounting said arm for, longitudinal reciprocation with one end thereof facing the bobbin path, means'urging said arm toward said bobbin path, an elongated feeler tip having one end pivotally' supported on said one end of said arm, means urging said feeler tip into position to initially contact the bobbin with a section thereof adjacent its other end, said feeler tip including an arcuate bobbin contacting cam surface shaped to contact a single narrow region of the bobbin during the entire pivotal bobbin exhaustion indicating movement of said tip, whereby the moment arms of the forces applied to said tip by said feeler arm and the bobbin, tending to rotate said feeler tip about its pivotal support, are substantially constant throughout said indicatin movement, and the moment arm of the friction restraining said pivotal indicating movement progressively diminishes during said movement.

6. A feeler mechanism for a loom bobbin comprising, a feeler arm, means mounting said arm for longitudinal reciprocation, means urging one end of said arm toward the bobbin path,'an elongated feeler tip having one end pivotally supported on said one end of said arm, said feeler tip including an arcuate bobbin contacting surface shaped to contact a single narrow region of the bobbin throughout the exhausted bobbin indicating movement of said feeler about its pivotal support, an indicating arm pivoted to said feeler-tip at a section thereof between the said pivotal support of said tip and the zone of said surface initially presented to contact with the bobbin, and means effective through said indicating arm urging said tip into initial bobbin contacting position, the pivot point of said indicating arm being substantially in line with said zone of initial contact and the pivot point of said feeler arm. whereby the moment arm of the force applied by said indicating arm progressively varies from a maximum on one side of said contact region to a maximum on the other side of said contact region aszsaid feeler tippivots through its exhausted bobbin indicating movement.

7. A feeler mechanism for a loom bobbin comprising, a support having front and rear end tween said surface and said bobbin substantially constantly positioned along said bobbin, the rear end of said indicator arm being pivoted to said feeler tip adajcent the other end thereof, a spring about said feeler arm having one end fixed relative thereto, a connecting member having one end engaging said one end of said feelerarm spring and having the other end engaging the other end of said indicating arm spring, said feeler arm spring being stronger than said indicating arm spring, said springs urging their respective arms toward the bobbin path and said feeler tip toward initial bobbin contact position. the pivot point of said indicator arm in said initial position being substantially in line with the pivot point of said feeler tip and'the portion of said surface initially contacting said bobbin.

8. A feeler mechanism for a loom bobbin comprising, a case having front and rear ends, a feeler arm mounted for straight line reciprocatory movement in said case and extending through said ends, a spring about said feeler arm having one end fixed relative thereto and urging said feeler arm toward the bobbin path, an adjustment piece in said case member. having a hole therein through which said feeler arm passes. the other end of said spring bearing against said adjustment piece, means for moving said piece along said feeler arm to adjust the tension of said spring, an indicating arm mounted for straight line and for angular movement in said case member and extending through said ends, a second spring weaker than said first spring surrounding said indicator arm and having one end amxed relative thereto, a Z-shaped connecting -member having one end mounted on said feeler arm and contacting said one end of said feeler spring and having its other end mounted on said indicator arm and contacting the other end of said indicating arm spring, said indicator spring urging said indicator arm toward initial bobbin contact position, and an elongated feeler tip pivoted adjacent one end thereof on the rear end of said feeler arm, the rear end of said indicator am being pivoted .to said tip adjacent the other end thereof. the pivot point of said indicator am being substantially in line with the pivot point of said feeler tip and the original zone of contact be: tween said tip and the bobbin. I

JOHN RINNE, ROBERT G. MALLARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in tne file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,369,483 Snow Feb. 22, 1921 1,799,118 Payne Mar. 31, 1931 1,990,332 Kay Feb. 5, 1935 I 2,211,778 Holcombe Aug. 20. 1940 I FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 255,508 Italy Oct. 25, 1927 

